A dream shared at TEDMED: Diana Nyad swims from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage

Extreme swimmer Diana Nyad has completed her longest swim yet … at the age of 64. Over the weekend, Nyad attempted the swim from Havana, Cuba, to the coast of Florida for the fifth time, and this time finished the ambitious 110-mile swim. The swim took Nyad a total of 53 hours — and made her the first person to complete this swim without the security of a shark cage.

[ted_talkteaser id=1336]In her talk from TEDMED 2011, Nyad explains why she decided to embark on this swim — which she first attempted in 1978, when she was in her 20s, and failed. Nyad admits that she hadn’t swum a single stroke for more than 31 years when she decided to get back in the pool and train for this swim.

“A couple of years ago, I was turning 60 … I started grappling with this existential angst of what…